Plot Armor no Jutsu, Begone!
by YAXON
Summary: Sasuke's Plot Armor no Jutsu develops a chink in a crucial moment during his defection, and he pays the ultimate price. How will events progress without the presence of Sasuke Uchiha? A semi-crackfic. There will be serious, and there will be silly. Suspension of beliefs at times may be required. Will be updated irregularly.
1. Chapter 1

History is such a complicated, flexible thing. That's why it branches in so many different directions; because so many different choices could've been made. In one history, Sasuke Uchiha was able to defect from the village, knock out Sakura Haruno, and leave through the front gate. It would be hours before the village realizes the last loyal Uchiha is gone, and so the Sound Four and Sasuke get a decent head start on their trip to the Sound Village.

You know what we call that? Plot Armor no Jutsu. Oh, sure. Because the village forces are spread so thin after the Sand-Sound Invasion in order to make a good impression on the rest of the enemy nations, they can't even afford to put _one_ decent shinobi at the front entrance. But really, that's just _inviting_ enemy forces to invade, what with such lax defenses.

But perhaps that's a little too harsh. Perhaps Sasuke found a convenient time during the changing of the guard, and that's how he left so easily. Even so, that still speaks of lax defenses. If you keep to one pattern for too long, even the basest of shinobi could work out the schedule after observing the guard for a while.

So we return to the issue of **Plot Armor no Jutsu**. Sasuke and the Sound Four _needed_ time to get a head start, give Sasuke his powerup, and safely store him in a barrel until the transition was complete. There's no possible way the series can continue without _Sasuke Uchiha_. No, no. He plays a penultimate role in saving the world – penultimate because after saving it, he threatens to bring about a **Revolution** and promptly _loses_ to his longtime rival and pseudo-brother, Naruto Uzumaki.

Y'know, the guy the series is named after.

But what if there was a chink in the Plot Armor no Jutsu? What if the guard rotation at the front gate wasn't so lax, happening to stumble upon Sakura Haruno about an hour after Sasuke exited the village? There'd still be a small matter of, ah, _catch-up_ , but it wouldn't be as bad as giving the prissy Uchiha _several hours_ to gain some distance, take his bad meds, and get a power boost.

Let's have a look, shall we?

* * *

"That Curse Mark on your shoulder is only a Level One. Those pills will stimulate the Mark and make it a Level Two." Tayuya remarked with a hand on her hip.

"One problem, strengthening the Curse Mark will intensify the harmful effects it has on your body." Sakon added. "Such a rapid change would kill you at once. And so, to ensure you survive the transition to the Second State, we must give your body several hours to get accustomed to it at least. After that, the transition will be complete, and your power may even be equal to ours. Unfortunately, the fact remains that even with all of these preparations, you'll still have to die."

There was a long, tense silence as Sasuke took it all in. A normal shinobi probably would have backed out of this kind of 'deal'… But this is Sasuke we're talking about here, Mr. "Vengeance Must Be Mine".

"So I'm dead, what'll happen after that?" Sasuke inquired.

"Not to worry." Sakon strode over to the young Uchiha, placing the little glass bottle with a single black pill into his hand. "Why do you think my friends and I are here? There has to be a Barrier Ninjutsu to lessen the effects of the transition. Instead of dying, you'll be placed into a suspended stasis of half-death for a while."

Sasuke stared at the bottle, and then up at Sakon incredulously.

"And I'm supposed to trust _you guys_ to make sure I don't die for real?" … Hey, maybe he does have a brain in there somewhere!

"Listen, Sasuke, don't forget who we are!" Kidomaru boasted. "Orochimaru's handpicked bodyguards! If there's anyone who knows about Curse Marks, Barrier Ninjutsu, and all the rest, it'd be us!"

 _'One thing's for sure… I can't afford to die…'_ Sasuke popped open the bottle and spilled out the content into his open palm. He determinedly willed Itachi's visage into his mind's eye. _'… Not yet.'_

"I guess I'm in your hands," Sasuke said aloud, and then popped the pill into his mouth.

… Then again, Sasuke is only known for his moments… The rest of the time he's just a revenge-obsessed moron.

While the Sound Four scrambled to enact their masterplan, that was when the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon struck; the one consisting of Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, Iwashi Tatami, and Shizune Kato. They'd been returning home from a tiring mission, and had received word from HQ about Sasuke's defection. Since they were only just entering the Land of Fire that night, they had to forego rest and commence the search for Sasuke and his suspected new allies posthaste.

They'd literally just stumbled upon the group of enemy shinobi the moment Sasuke popped that black pill into his mouth. It was more of a gut reaction to 'attack now, ask questions later', and seeing as how they were Jonin, they were able to avoid the traps around the Sound Four's temporary camp, so they'd completely blindsided the Sound ninjas.

Shizune hit the redheaded girl in the back of the neck with a couple of poisoned senbon needles. Raido pulled something similar with Jirobo, but slashed into the back of the chubby man's neck with his poisoned kokuto. Genma hit Sakon square in the eyes with senbon spewed from his mouth. And Iwashi beheaded Kidomaru with a fine looking blade.

Amazing what a few Jonin could accomplish against a squad of Orochimaru's finest. Provided they got the drop on the lot of them – which they did. Sakon attempted to call upon his Cursed Mark to fend off the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon, but with the rest of his Squad down, he was tag-teamed, blind, and in just a few moments, dead.

Shizune moved to steady Sasuke, who looked to be in intense agony as he sank to his knees and convulsed.

"Sasuke! Oh no, oh no…" She shook off the panic as best as she could and tried to find out what was wrong with him. A futile effort, she would soon realize.

"It looked like he ingested some kind of drug." Raido commented as Iwashi went around and beheaded Sakon and Jirobo. Ukon had tried to break off and catch the Hidden Leaf shinobi off guard, but his life was forfeit as well.

Only Tayuya was kept alive for interrogation purposes, as Shizune's poison would just keep her under long enough for Inoichi to get into her head.

"Probably related to his Curse Mark, to make it more powerful somehow. Bastards." Genma growled and began storing the corpses into scrolls.

"I won't be able to stabilize him in time! I don't have the necessary equipment!" Shizune's worry clearly shown through. "Whatever he ingested… It's having an adverse effect all over his body! The Mystical Palm technique can't handle all of it. He's… He's dying."

After securing the last corpse, Genma made his way over and calmly placed a hand on Shizune's quivering shoulder.

"Hey… it's going to be okay. It's a shame that someone so young has to die, but he made his own choices. The report said that he left willingly; if he were to live, the only thing awaiting him back in the village would be prison at best. I can think of a few worse things that could happen for desertion, even with his 'privileged' status."

Shizune looked like she was going to reprimand the brunet, but Sasuke's final moments had come, and with one final death rattle, he breathed his last as the transition overwhelmed him. There was a moment of silence out of reverence for the formerly loyal Hidden Leaf Genin, and then the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon returned home.

One thing was for sure, there were going to be a lot of changes in the years to come…

* * *

"I see." Tsunade took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and breathed out. "While far from the ideal outcome, at least we prevented the Sharingan from falling into Orochimaru's hands. You guys are dismissed, and due for a few days' rest. Good work.

Genma, Iwashi, and Raido left somberly, but Shizune was asked to stay behind temporarily.

"You're sure his Sharingan can't be harvested?" Tsunade asked of her apprentice. To which she received a negative response.

"They weren't active, milady. They obviously weren't expecting a confrontation so soon, and Sasuke, well… They were trying to strengthen his Curse Mark."

"I see." Tsunade chewed her thumb lightly and looked down at Sasuke's file. The kid was far from a bright ray of sunshine, but he was obviously loved by Team Seven, despite his frigid attitude. That was a meeting that she did _not_ look forward to. "Cremate his body. I don't want Orochimaru to get his hands on him at all."

"Milady?" Shizune asked tentatively.

"That bastard has the Impure World Resurrection technique, Shizune. I don't know all the ins and outs of that Jutsu, but based off of the Forbidden Scroll, it requires the DNA of a deceased person to bring them back. Orochimaru was able to desecrate the graves of the First and Second Hokages; who knows who else he's managed to get? Trust me, we're going to want him cremated and _fast_."

Shizune stood rigidly as she processed that fact. She nodded firmly, and then swiftly left the room to go do that. Tsunade sighed exasperatedly as she closed Sasuke's file. If she hadn't been so swamped in the duties of a Hokage, Tsunade would have sat the brat down for a long, overdue chat, seeing as how signs of possible defection had been piling up for a while now. His obsession with power and growing stronger was unhealthy; it didn't take an accomplished med-nin like her to figure that out.

She really regretted sending Kakashi out on that mission… Kami knows he was needed, but he was needed all over the place. Not just out in the field, but here in the village, where he could run damage control on his Genin team.

"GRANNY!"

Tsunade massaged her temples as she registered Naruto's muffled, angry voice through the door to the office. Knowing her second apprentice, she was probably with the normally boisterous blond, and that would probably make this meeting go a little easier… After all, briefing them about Sasuke's defection and subsequent death would be a _lot_ harder; Kakashi would be a lot less painful to explain the facts to.

She wasn't disappointed when Naruto and Sakura barged into the room with angry and distressed faces. The Slug Sannin took another deep breath and steeled herself.

 _'Let's get this over with…'_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Honestly, I wanted this to be just another crackfic, having rewatched the beginning of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission lately, but then somewhere along the line, the fic took a slightly serious turn… So here's how it's going to go. For the most part, this will likely seem 'serious'; but there will definitely be crackfic-style moments, because in some cases I simply can't help myself. I liken the style somewhat to the fanfic "The Somewhat Cracked Mind of Uchiha Itachi"; except my style might be slightly reversed from that, as the style in that is mostly crackfic-style, with a little dose of 'serious'.**

 **This will call for a "suspension of beliefs" as I make decisions as we go along. I will** _ **try**_ **to branch off from the cliché fanmade ideas of banishment, the village's obsession with the Uchiha, etc.; honestly, those normally don't sit well with me. Too hard to wrap my head around, if they're done in a 'serious' manner.**

 **Ideally I want to have fun. Much of the series is all about Naruto and Sasuke's Ashura/Indra connection, and now that's obviously thrown out the window as I do away with Sasuke. Normally, this would probably have an adverse effect on the plot; Sasuke is a driving force for Naruto and co., yadda, yadda, yadda, he's needed to stop Kaguya at the end, yadda, yadda, yadda. I would debate the last one with you, but I won't get into it right now, 'cause I have plans. XD**

 **Do I hate Sasuke? Not necessarily. He's definitely not in my Top Ten or anything, but it's hard to hate a guy after he mellows out from his 'extreme hatred' phase, let alone the adorable kid he used to be. I perfectly understand that he's been through just as much as Naruto, and that I should 'respect' that… But let's be honest. Sasuke gets on everybody's nerves at some point. lol Just a reminder – this is for** _ **fun**_ **. An experiment with the series in general. There will be crack, and there will be serious. Sakura might have a 'breakdown' at first, but she'll get over it. If there's any 'bashing', it's done in jest, and won't be permanent… except** _ **maybe**_ **in the case of Danzo.**

 **'Cause if I had to list all Naruto characters from favorite to least favorite… Danzo would probably belong somewhere toward the bottom. I can sympathize with him a little, but he's just so 'grr' a lot of the time, y'know? Like, you wanna punch the guy for all the crap he pulls… XD**


	2. Chapter 2

"Granny! What's this about Sasuke defecting and dying?!" Naruto bellowed, earning a smack to the back of his head from his teammate for not knowing to distinguish his 'indoor' voice from his 'outdoor' voice.

Tsunade sighed exasperatedly at the blond's forwardness. Of course Naruto didn't know much about tact, and frankly, there wasn't any room for it with the current subject… But really. He could at least stop calling her 'Granny'. Grumble, grumble.

"You heard correctly, Naruto. Sakura can tell you about the first part…" As Naruto opened his big mouth to speak out of turn again, Tsunade held up a single paperweight. Threateningly. Naruto gulped and promptly shut his mouth. "But I'm _sure_ that's not the part you're most concerned about. So let me give you the rundown of what happened…"

By the end of the brief recap – there really wasn't much to explain from an objective standpoint – Naruto and Sakura both had tears streaming down their faces. Tsunade was massaging her temples and trying to not think too far ahead; Kami knew these kids needed sympathy, but still. The sooner these kids got grief counseling, the better. Tsunade _hated_ seeing them so sad, so depressed.

She didn't need them pulling a stunt like she did after losing Nawaki and Dan…

"That idiot… What was he thinking?!" Naruto gnashed his teeth and stomped his foot. "Orochimaru wasn't gonna make him stronger! He's the enemy!"

"Naruto…" Sakura murmured dejectedly. She blinked when her Sensei spoke up again.

"Naruto, try to think of it from Sasuke's perspective. Yes, he was growing powerful here in the village. And there's even a chance Sasuke realized that my old teammate was untrustworthy. But there are two things that likely kept him from thinking rationally." Tsunade fixed him with a mildly stern gaze. "The first is, ironically enough, you."

"Me?" Naruto cocked his head to the side in frustrated confusion.

"Yes, you." Tsunade nodded firmly. "You did nothing wrong, Naruto, but the way he saw it, you were growing quite spectacularly while he himself was stagnated. Not only are you able to Summon Toads, especially Gamabunta, but you also mastered the Rasengan faster than your predecessors. But what about Sasuke?"

"W-Well…" Sakura tentatively replied. "Kakashi-sensei taught him the Chidori… A-and he might have helped him with the Sharingan…"

"Right," Tsunade conceded. "But what about after the Chunin Exams? Where was he a majority of the time?"

"In the… hospital…" Sakura murmured quietly. It was true. That battle with the Sand Siblings had been intense, and Sasuke was left in the hospital, while Naruto recovered at a faster rate and then went off to search for Tsunade. Sasuke was released shortly after Naruto departed, but then he went off to confront his brother, which only landed him back in the hospital.

"That's right." Tsunade confirmed. "I know you both respected and cherished Sasuke, but that sentiment could not be reciprocated. According to his file, his ambition was to avenge his clan; restoring his clan was a mere afterthought when compared to that ambition. Instead of depending on his village to aid him in his quest, Sasuke piled all of that burden onto himself. _He_ had to be the one to take vengeance. Not you, not Sakura, not Kakashi. I'm not sure of the nature of the bond between you four, but it's clear that Sasuke was reluctant to have it. That Curse Mark definitely didn't help."

Naruto wanted to argue against Tsunade's assertions so bad… But deep down he knew that he couldn't. Nothing she said was technically incorrect. Sasuke _was_ prickly to be around. They'd been making progress with him after that mission to Wave, but all of that progress was erased when he got that Curse Mark… It was all that Snake's fault!

Naruto was startled from his bitter thoughts when Sakura fled from the room.

"Sakura!" He called after her.

"Let her go, Naruto. She needs time." Tsunade kept him from pursuing her, but even Naruto could tell that she was emotionally drained.

Naruto turned back to her with a scowl. He knew that she was right about that, too… even if all he wanted to do was go and comfort her.

"So what happens now?"

Tsunade smiled wryly at the blond.

"Well, Team Seven is a member short now. I can't in good conscience send you guys out on C-Rank or above missions. Not until you get that spot filled." She shook her head as he huffed exasperatedly. "Besides, it's best if you stay in the village for a while. You guys won't be the only ones hurting; think about your classmates, too."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that." Naruto groused. "What about training?! If I have to be stuck doing lame D-Ranks, I wanna train with Pervy Sage!"

"He's not back yet, Naruto." Tsunade reminded the boy. "In fact, we're in a peculiar state right now, with all of our Jonin and more experienced Chunin out on missions. I'm sad to say that even Iruka's out on a mission right now…"

Naruto seemed rather put out at that, and Tsunade had a feeling she knew why he was fixated on training at this point. The loss of Sasuke hurt. Being hurt was nothing new to the blond, but it'd been a while since he had to acknowledge the pain. He wasn't being allowed to go comfort Sakura, and for right now that seemed more important than comforting anyone else, seeing as how Sasuke was on _their_ team.

That all being said, Tsunade found herself sufficiently guilt-tripped. Like she told Naruto when they first met, being Hokage _sucked_. All of these duties, holding her shinobi to all of their duties… All of that provided the perfect opportunity for Orochimaru to try and get Sasuke. Yes, Sasuke made his own choices, but those bad choices were influenced by the mere fact no one was screwing his head on right.

Being Hokage really, really sucked. Your choices were the village or people you cared about… And more often than not, you can't afford to be selfish at all. Well, Tsunade was going to make it up to Team Seven. She was obligated to do that now, and gosh darn it she was going to repay them for the shitty job she'd been doing.

"Naruto, I'll tell you what. I'll start you on Elemental Affinity training; that kind of training has to be done on your own, anyway. You might have to ask for advice from another user of whichever Affinity you end up with, but this should keep you preoccupied until the Jonin get back."

Naruto blinked in shock.

"Wh-What about Pervy Sage?"

"I've sent a Slug to update him, but he probably won't be back for a week or two still. As it stands, he's looking into something important for us. He'll tell you about it when he gets back."

"Oh. Okay." Naruto said, sounding uncertain. "So, um… what do I gotta do for this training?"

"Come with me, and I'll show you. We need to get you some Chakra litmus paper first."

Naruto followed after her, confused at first, but soon he'd be stoked and raring to begin.

* * *

"That makes the Five- and Seven-Tails." The ring-eyed leader spoke with authority. There were seven rainbow-colored silhouettes and two people that were actually in the cavern with the Gedo Statue. Those two being the newly christened 'Immortal Combo', Hidan and Kakuzu. The Leader looked to another silhouette. "Zetsu, do you have anything new to report on the Nine-Tails?"

The seemingly bipolar Akatsuki member answered in a smooth voice.

"The village is currently vulnerable. The most any of us would have to worry about would be the Hokage herself. I think now would be the perfect time to capture that target…"

The Leader acknowledged Zetsu's claim with a firm nod. His powerful eyes turned towards another Dojutsu user.

"Itachi. You and Kisame are to return to the Hidden Leaf and capture the Nine-Tails. Do not hold back this time."

Despite the stern warning, and the fact that he knew Leader was not happy with their last attempt to get the Nine-Tails, Itachi kept his cool and panned his eyes over to the man with a Venus flytrap around his head.

"Is the village _still_ reeling from that invasion?" He asked coldly.

" _ **Yes, but there is a possibility that their state of affairs can partly be a result of Orochimaru's machinations. He tried to lure your brother into defecting, but ultimately failed.**_ " Zetsu's voice was rougher this time, and no one but Kisame could tell that Itachi seemed a mix of relieved and tense at this news.

"'Ey, fuckwit! Are you senile?! Itachi massacred his clan!" Hidan sneered, but got head shakes all around. Needless to say, Hidan was pissed that no one was taking him seriously. "What's with you guys?!"

"At any rate." Kakuzu decided to move the topic along. "What do you want us to do now? There's seven Jinchuriki left."

"Two- and Eight-Tails are too heavily guarded presently," Leader summarized. "We do not know the whereabouts of the Four- and Six-Tails, and the Three-Tails is still reforming. Presently, the One-Tail is the only other one that we know of that is within reach. Seeing as how they are still reeling from that Invasion, I want Sasori and Deidara to go after the One-Tail while it is still vulnerable. Kakuzu and Hidan, you are to resume bounty-collecting. We will resume in one week for the Sealing of the One-Tail."

"And the Nine-Tails?" Hidan asked impatiently.

"Nine-Tails must be Sealed last of all. We are only capturing him so that he does not gain in power." Leader tersely answered him with a mild glare. "Now…"

"Oh! There's something else I wanna report on!" Zetsu spoke up again in his smooth voice. Receiving a mildly irritated prompt from the Leader, he went on. "Orochimaru is vulnerable, too! He tried to take Sasuke as his new host, but since he died before he reached Orochimaru, the Snake is without a new host! We can get his ring at last! … Where'd Itachi go?"

Kisame rubbed the back of his head abashedly.

"Ehehe… Sorry, but I think Itachi volunteered for that mission… I gotta go, Itachi's already leaving." With that, Kisame ended his transmission as well.

Six pairs of eyes were on the Leader after that display. Everyone was expecting him to blow, since his fury was legendary… But at length, he just sighed and closed his eyes.

"Change of plans. Deidara, Sasori, just keep an eye on your target for now. Kakuzu and Hidan, you have a longer period to collect bounties. Zetsu, keep the Hidden Leaf under surveillance."

The Leader abruptly cut the transmission off, leaving five of his remaining minions to their confusion. When Konan opened her eyes in the Hidden Rain, she looked at Nagato's Deva Path somewhat worriedly.

"Nagato…"

"This isn't a setback, Konan…" Pain rubbed Yahiko's temple exasperatedly. "If Itachi is this worked up, this will actually resolve quite a few problems for us. Orochimaru and his forces will be decimated, and we will get that ring back… Sometimes I forget Itachi is still a teenager."

Konan quirked an elegant eyebrow.

"You aren't concerned with _why_ Itachi would be worked up?"

Pain shook Yahiko's head.

"I learned long ago to not ask too many questions when it comes to Itachi… That boy was in the Anbu at an age when we were training with Jiraiya-sensei. He's bound to have some issues to work out. I haven't felt a need to intervene, because Itachi has yet to hurt the organization's cause. Itachi can do whatever the hell he wants as long as it benefits us…" Pain began to walk out to the ledge of the tower, preparing to jump down. "… That being said, I need a drink. A stiff one."

Dealing with a bunch of psychos on a constant basis would do that to ya. Konan sweatdropped but didn't stop him as the other five Paths soon followed after the Deva Path. They were just Nagato's way of getting the alcohol; he didn't actually have them drink it. It made for a quick delivery service…

* * *

"Are you sure it was wise to do that?" Zetsu asked the masked man when the transmission was cut. He'd only revealed Sasuke's status due to the prompting of the man before him.

The masked man shuddered.

" _Yes_ , it was necessary." Tobi replied in a childish, petulant voice. "Itachi-chan was going to find out one way or another, and Tobi really did not need Itachi-chan breathing down his neck because of withheld information… Tobi is a **good** boy."

" _ **Yeah, but now with his brother dead, Itachi's plans are torn to shreds. He's going to go against the organization now.**_ " Black Zetsu pointed out irritatingly.

"I had to take the chance!" Tobi roared in a more serious voice. "If I withheld that information from him, he _definitely_ would have turned against us when he found out. By telling him now, there's a chance his betrayal will be delayed somewhat. He'll be hell-bent on obliterating Orochimaru and all he's worked for. We'll use that to our advantage, and snatch the Nine-Tails while he's preoccupied. _I_ will capture the Nine-Tails. It should be a trifling matter at his current level of strength…"

"… We still don't like this." White Zetsu whined. "We don't know what Itachi's gonna do now! How's he going to work out where Orochimaru is?"

Tobi snorted derisively.

"How the hell should I know? He might be my nephew twice removed or something, but that doesn't mean I know what he's thinking. He'll probably do some… sneaky sleuthing. Or something."

" _ **This is what we were worried about…**_ " Black Zetsu grumbled as Tobi took them to the Hidden Leaf. The bicolored creature had bad feelings about this…

* * *

"Itachi, why are we returning to the Hidden Leaf?" Kisame asked warily as they trekked through the Land of Fire once more, making some pretty good progress at the rate they were going through the trees. He was looking forward to gutting that Snake.

" _I_ have some business there. _You_ are supposed to turn back, remember?" Itachi said in a clipped, warning tone.

"Che, yeah, right!" Kisame outright laughed. "You look like you're raring to fight for once! There's no way I was gonna miss out on this. You're always holding me back, Itachi, never letting me go wild. I want in on this action!"

Itachi inwardly grumbled and mulled over the prospect of flambéing his partner with Amaterasu. On the one hand, Leader would be pissed… On the other, he wouldn't have to go through the hassle of explaining why he was going to be defecting from Akatsuki. There was just so little time… And there was sooo much to take care of before he keeled over from this stupid illness.

Danzo. Root. Homura. Koharu. Orochimaru's main base in the Land of Sound… followed up with a satisfying conclusion of eliminating the Snake Bastard _slooowly_. Yes, that order of Kill-Kill-Kill sounded lovely. Kisame could handle the small fry if he wanted, but the big fish were _his_ , all his.

And if Madara proved enough of a nuisance, he would end up on that List, too. Itachi _needed_ to ensure the safety of the Leaf Village, after all.

There was also the little matter of working out how to resurrect the Uchiha Clan… Madara sure as hell wasn't going to lend a hand, so it all fell to Itachi… Oddly enough, Itachi had no problem with this whatsoever.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well, crap's gonna hit the fan pretty soon, eh? I wasn't gonna bring Itachi in so soon, but it would make sense that Zetsu would be aware of this much at this point. He did watch Naruto and Sasuke go at it in canon. :P Don't worry, things will cancel each other out, and we'll have a sufficient rest period before any more action-y stuff. … With the exception of Itachi's self-imposed missions. XD**


End file.
